Seeing as we just had the annual heights and weights delivered to our doorstep with nary an emotion beyond “these large men either got slightly larger or slightly smaller, and that is good”, there really isn’t much else going on until the season starts. Sure, there was the BBQ and a couple of commitments, but I’d be surprised if much else happened until a couple of days before The Horror II – Horror-ier comes into our lives at the end of August. So yeah, figured I’d dust off this diary and expound a bit on the UM sports landscape, the upcoming football season, college sports in general, and a couple of other topics.

Best: Are You Ready for Some Football!

So it’s been over 8 months since UM last played a down of football (and, frankly, many more months since those downs felt meaningful). I know a great deal has gone on both locally and nationally to put a dour tone on the upcoming season, but I’m just excited for the sport to return and for my fall weekends to have a bit more entertainment. Living in NY but being a Lions fan, I’m forced to watch the Jets and Giants try to out-dryhump doorknobs for 3 hours most weeks, and can usually only catch games with teams I care about on postage stamp-sized feeds from random “sports” sites hosted in countries Russia hasn’t realized they might want to take back yet. But basically every Saturday from August until November I know that I can turn on the television and find some channel with Michigan on it, and for a couple of hours I can be unabashedly zealous over something pretty inconsequential but still incredibly endearing to my heart. That’s why I love the fall, and why I love having Michigan football back in my life.

[After the JUMP: lots more things that are either the best or the worst.]

Why I picked what I did. Michigan is the best team in the league and with a chance at a high #2 seed or a #1 seed they still have someething to play for (I'm also a little biased). Minnesota, they have the most of anybody in the BTT to play for. They are not a bad team and I just have a strange feeling they find a way to pull it off, this seasons been crazy so why not in the BTT. MSU is a complete mess right now and I don't think a couple of days is going to straighten that ship enough to beat Iowa. Iowa can, and has showed, they can beat anyone in the Big Ten.

Most importantly I hope everybody for Michigan stays healthy, that is by far the most important outcome for the BTT. Everything else is just a B1G bonus.

So, my copy of the new Hail to Hoops & Hockey book arrived last night and I promptly read through the whole thing. With the Football Bye Week I figured it might be a good time to talk about just how excited you are for Michigan Basketball.

When I was a student I went to 1 basketball game (they lost. And were not good). I went to 3 last year and I live in Chicago. Michigan baskteball is back to being an event - and a damn good one.

The preview mag posits that there are maybe 5 teams that have as much talent as Michigan. Michigan will start lottery picks (as of now) at the 4 and 5 (or 3 and 4) with another great recruiting class coming in.

We also return a great shooter - and not just a (drink) who according to the coaches this morning on Michigan Insider has gained about 20lbs of muscle and added 6" to his vertical.

How good do you think this team will be? Can they win the B1G or the B1G tournament? What are you most excited for with Michigan Basketball?

Of greatest interest here are his comments on Michigan. Here are a few quotes:

Last season, Brady Hoke and the Wolverines were one of the bigger success stories in the country. Do you think that can be sustained?

Phil Steele: Last year, Michigan had the best case scenario. Going 11-2, that’s about as good as it can get. When you look at things a little bit closer, the bowl game (against Virginia Tech)for example, they got out first-downed 22-12, outgained 377-184, but at the end of the game, they ended up winning.

You look at the Notre Dame game, heading into the fourth quarter you’re thinking Notre Dame is going to win by 24 points. They completely dominated the game and then ended up coming up short when Denard Robinson had a touchdown pass in the final seconds.

This year the schedule gets a little bit tougher. I do think this season’s team is a little bit stronger if they can get the defensive line going.

I just don’t think they’ll overachieve like they did last year.

I have them as an underdog against Alabama, a slight underdog at Notre Dame, an underdog at Nebraska and an underdog at Ohio State. That doesn’t mean they’ll lose all of them, but I think their odds of getting 11 wins are a little more difficult.

There is more in the interview on Michigan, but you can only quote so much. The whole piece is very good. Interestingly, Eleven Warriors predicts that Michigan will beat Alabama (although, Steele begs to differ, and thinks it would be quite an upset.)

I'd like to piggyback off the topic that is two spots down. Please humor me and post your very specific prediction for next year's football season. It does not have to do with our record at all, but let us revisit this thread a year from now to see who may have their precognition hats on today. Perhaps the person with the most specific and accurate prediction will be treated to a round of miniature golf by THE KNOWLEDGE, one in which THE KNOWLEDGE writes out the scorecard prior to the round, just to let his tagalong know who runs this stuff. I'll start:

Mark Dantonio will blow the MSU game. He will do so by calling for a fake field goal slightly more than halfway through the 4th quarter, with the Spartans leading by less than a touchdown. This field goal would have been a long attempt, and the down is 4th and 1 or 4th and 2. Michigan chews up most of the clock and scores a touchdown to win the game.